With passion, partnership, and maybe a soupçon of beginners’ ingenuousness Ronan Duchêne Le May and his wife chef Alexia Duchêne opened Le Chêne, a très chic, très Parisien restaurant on Carmine Street in the West Village in less than six months. Incroyable!

Listen in to our chat with Ronan to hear about how his love of restaurants drew him from his family winemaking world in Bordeaux to Paris, hospitality work, and how the couple’s decision to move to New York in 2023 has led to an adventure bigger than even they could have imagined.

We are kicking off Season 4 with the iconic Daryl Coke, who runs the beloved wine programs at NYC’s Ernesto’s and Bartolo’s, and a deep dive into Spanish and Basque restaurants and wines.

Daryl has been in New York for the past 16 years working at some of the city’s most beloved cult restaurants including The Beatrice Inn, The Fat Radish, Mission Chinese, Contra and Wildair.

She also gives us the inside scoop on where she loves to eat around town (and in Spain), what she wishes people knew about wine service, and what guest behaviors she’d like to see 86ed.

Listen in! You’ll come away hungry, thirsty, and with a long list of new restaurants you want to try. I know I did!

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#SachaHormaechea #chefschef

#porron #sansebastian #galicia #priorat

#valentineday #womenwinemakers

#coatcheck #86list #soigneryourself

Maître d' Diaries is back!

Season 4 brings you more NYC front of the house folks, like Daryl Coke of Ernesto's and Bartolo, Ronan Le Chêne of Le Chêne, Ahris Kim of NA:EUN Hospitality, and Jenna Norfleet of Francie, along with the return of “That’s An Issue,” “We’re Booked,” and a new episode theme, “Destination Hospitality.”

Listen in here for a taste of what’s to come.

And check out our past episodes in Seasons 1 - 4!